Culture Warrior
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
With three straight #1 bestsellers and more than 4 million copies of his books in print, the most powerful traditional force in the American media now takes off his gloves in the ongoing struggle for America’s heart and soul.
Bill O’Reilly is the very embodiment of the idea of a Culture Warrior—and in this book he lives up to the title brilliantly, with all the brashness and forthrightness at his command. He sees that America is in the midst of a fierce culture war between those who embrace traditional values and those who want to change America into a “secular-progressive” country. This is a conflict that differs in many ways from the usual liberal/conservative divide, but it is no less heated, and the stakes are even higher.
In Culture Warrior, Bill O’Reilly defines this war and analyzes the competing philosophies of the traditionalist and secular-progressive camps. He examines why the nation’s motto “E Pluribus Unum” (“From Many, One”) might change to “What About Me?”; dissects the forces driving the secular-progressive agenda in the media and behind the scenes, including George Soros, George Lakoff, and the ACLU; and dives into matters of race, education, and the war on terror. He also shows how the culture war has played out in such high-profile instances as The Passion of the Christ, Fahrenheit 9/11, the abuse epidemic (child and otherwise), and the embattled place of religion in public life—with special emphasis on the war against Christmas. Whatever controversies are roiling the nation, he fearlessly confronts them—and no one will be in the dark about which side he’s on.
Culture Warrior showcases Bill O’Reilly at his most eloquent and impassioned. He is an unrelenting fighter for the soul of America, and in this book he fights the good fight for the traditional values that have served this country so well for so long.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In his latest screed, the host of Fox News'The O'Reilly Factor mobilizes fellow "traditionalists" against a "secular-progressive movement" supposedly led by billionaire George Soros ("public enemy number one") and the liberal rhetorician George Lakoff. O'Reilly condemns the "erosion of societal discipline" flowing from an alleged "S-P " agenda of drug legalization, teenagers' rights, moral relativism, church-state separation, therapy instead of punishment for criminals and, above all, the "communist" freeloader's doctrine that the government should tax the rich to fund housing, health care and early-childhood education for the poor. None of this coheres well, but O'Reilly keeps fans stoked with red meat, including tales of ACLU Christmas-bashers who wanted schools to stop teaching kids to sing carols, and permissive judges who go easy on child molesters. Too often, though, he feuds with personal enemies like "smear-merchant" Al Franken, Hollywood liberals, press critics and unnamed "black-hearted websites." As a result, his populist swagger subsides into kvetching ("Clooney's press agent, a guy named Stan Rosenfield, began badmouthing me and Fox News around Hollywood") and paranoia ("S-P power-brokers... will command their forces to attack me in every way possible"). More resentful and self-pitying than feisty, O'Reilly may be suffering from battle fatigue. Photos.
Customer Reviews
For O'Reilly Fans Only
Not unlike his show, if you don't already agree with Bill O'Reilly you will probably not like this book. Politically, I would categorize myself as fiscally conservative and socially very liberal. I'm also an Atheist, but according to O'Reilly's straw-man definitions, I would literally be classified as a traditionalist by his book.
Not surprisingly, there many things on which O'Reilly and I disagree. That is not, however, why I give the book such a bad review. I read it to try to see his perspective on things, but he spends very little time actually explaining and defending his views. It would appear that he has written specifically for an audience that already agrees with him, because he seems to just assume the reader will take his side.
He tries to scare the audience with all of the war metaphors and the big, scary, capitalized Secular-Progressives: it is very clear that is his goal. In addition, he devotes FAR too many pages to whining about his personal beefs with others in politics and journalism.
In short, if you want justification for right-wing viewpoints, don't waste your money. However, if you are a right-wing Republican and Christian (or just want to hear all the ways us evil Atheists are after you and your children), you will, in all honesty, probably enjoy it very much.